It may seem an unlikely match, but the founder of Waterstones is turning to
technology to revive the lost art of the Charles Dickens-style serialised
novel.

Tim Waterstone is to launch a new digital books business which aims to become the literary version of Spotify, charging readers a flat rate to access as much reading matter as they like online.

The project, Read Petite, will specialise in short stories and serialisations, following in the tradition of 19th Century novelists like Dickens, creator of Oliver Twist, and Anthony Trollope, who used to publish their novels chapter by chapter in newspapers and magazines.

Short stories have traditionally been very difficult to sell in paper form, but Mr Waterstone said they would be suited to commuters and other time-pressed bibliophiles.

“It worked for Dickens and it worked for us. If you are going to read on a laptop, or a smartphone or a tablet, [a short story] is about as much as you want,” Mr Waterstone told The Daily Telegraph. “This is not slush pile publishing. There is an absolutely staggering treasure trove [of material] available.”

Read Petite will only publish works by authors who have already been picked up by traditional publishing house, although the material itself might be unpublished. Mr Waterstone said it has already unearthed little-known works by Brighton Rock author Graham Greene and Aldous Huxley, best known for his portrayal of a dystopian future in Brave New World.

Read Petite will launch towards the end of the year, and is likely to charge between £5 and £12 a month, said Mr Waterstone, who stepped down from his eponymous retail chain in 2001.

By comparison, subscribers to Spotify, the music streaming service, pay £9.99 for unlimited access without any interruptions from adverts. Alternatively, they can listen to an ad-funded version for free.

Mr Waterstone, who will be chairman of the new venture, co-founded Read Petite with literary agent peter Cox, Neill Denny, the former editor of The Bookseller magazine, and Martyn Daniels, founder of book supply chain specialist, Batch. The four men will have stakes in the business and are currently in talks with further individuals about additional funding.